Taylor, 64, was convicted last month of all 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for aiding and abetting Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front during the country’s brutal 1991-2001 civil war.

“The accused has been found responsible for aiding and abetting some of the most heinous crimes in human history,” said Special Court for Sierra Leone judge Richard Lussick, reading out the ruling on Wednesday.

“The trial chamber noticed that the effects of these crimes on the families and society as a whole in Sierra Leone was devastating,” the judge said at the court based in Leidschendam, just outside The Hague.